Improvement in electric lights



J. T. WAY.

Eiectric Light. I No. 33,458. PatentdOct. 8,1861.

' UNITED STATES Jot-In 'rrioMAs WAY, (in

A ENT OFFI WELBEOK stream, MIDDLESEX COUNTY,

' GREAT BRITAIN.

IMPROVEMENT IN ELECTRIC LIGHTS.

Specification'forming part of Letters Patent No. 33,458, dated October 8, 1861.

To all whom it may concern! l Be it known that, I, JOHN THOMAS WAY, of Welbeck Street, in the county of Middlesex, in the Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,

have invented a new and usefullmprovement in Obtaining Light by Electricity; and I do the points of the electrodes of carbon which have been generally used.' 7 Y Tbisinvention consists principallyin the substitntion for fixed electrodes of carbon or other material of two flowing electrodes, such as two streams of mercury, one connected with each pole of the battery and issuing intwo jets, such streams meetingeach other at a point where the separation of the particles of either or both streams commences, as will be hereinafter fully described. Instead, however, of a single stream of mercury or other material,

either or each of such flowing electrodes may be composed of two or more of such streams.

, In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 rep-' resents an elevation,-partly in section, of an electric lampillustrating my invention. Figs. 2 and 3 are vertical sections of modifications of the construction and arrangement of the jets.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

A A (Fig.1) are two cisterns, of iron, glass,

slate, or other suitable material, from which mercury is conveyed by pipes a b and a. b, fitted with stop-cocks g g to jets c c, made of infusible clay or other'substance' capable of bearing great heat and havingorifices as small as. they ean be conveniently made, from which the merent y will issue in constant streams, which conthe pressure to be regulated they are made adjustable upoutheir support B, and the pipesaa are made of indie-rubber or other flexible material." The pressure of the streams may-be obcolumn of mercury. To prevent the escape of supported on an iron plate, D, through which thepipes b b, for supplying the jets,- pass.

her as to enable the two streams of mercury, to bethrown upon each other at any desired angle or in any desired direction. Various modes of adjustment may be adopted, the insulatin g of the electrodes from each other alto the plate I) with ball-and-socket joints, the sockets t i being formed in or upon the plate D, and the balls dd upon iron sleeves through which the pipes b b pass, the said pipes being its respective'jet.

p 'In Fig. 2 the pipes b b are fitted to slide and turn in sockets e e, provided for them in the, plate D. The pipe b is represented as being fitted to a socket suitably inclined toward the socket of b, but b is represented as fitted to an upright socket, but having its upper part or its jet bent at a suitable angle toward the other pipe 'andjet. Both pipes may belike b or both like b',as under either arrangement they can be adjusted so that the streams issuing from their jets can be made to meet in the desired point. The pipes b b in this figure of the two modes of adjustment shown in l and 2 adjusting-screws may be used to ob tain amore delicate adjustment of the pipes b b and jets than can be got by hand, and-setadjusted. I

Fig. 3 shows the two jets constructed in one piece of clay, I. In this construction they cannot be adjustable but-are made at such an angle to each other as shall have been ascerjustment of the streams is necessary can be of the mercury-cisterns. The piece of clay I is fitted and cemented air-tight and mercurytight into an opening provided for it in the plate 1). The jets are moldedin the piece of clayI, by means of cores made ofa single piece .of thread bent and held at aproper angle.

' tained by mechanical means instead of by the mercurial vapor the jets are surrounded byand a inclosed within an airtight glass bell shadefl,

These pipes are made adjustable in such man ways being kept in view. In Fig. 1 the adjust ment is provided for by fitting, the pipes b b made of clay, and each in the same piece with also are supposed to be made of clay. In both screws used to secure the pipes when properly tained to be most desirable, and whatever ad- I obtained by elevating or lowering one or both 2 eases This thread is left in the clay to be destroyed ip burning the clay. v From the plate D a pipe H, descends toa receiver, J, below to convey thereto the mercury which falls from the jets on .the plate D. In Fig. 1 this pipe and receiver are shown as constituting a stand for the plate D, but in Figs. 2 and 3 a separate stand, K, is repre sented.

An upright glass cylinder, closed air-tight at its top and bottom by iron-plates, maybe substituted for the bell-shade O and plate D, and in that case, if one of the jets be made to enter the said cylinder through the bottom plate, and

another through the top plate, no insulation from the said plates is necessary, as the glass cylinder serves to insulate the electrodes from each other. .The glass cylinder or bell-shade should be as infusible as possible and well annealed. Its distance from the point of light is a matter of some importance, that it may be heated to such a degree as to prevent the mercury from adhering'to itthat is to say, above the boiling point of mercury-but not to such a degree as to be in danger of being cracked or fused. It is desirable that this glass should be protected from rain when the apparatus is used in the open air, and an advantage is gained in shielding itin all cases from cur-' operation I will state, as is well known,.that;

when a current of electricity is made to pass through a conductor, such as a thin wire of metal, which is insufficient in conducting power to allow of the ready passage of the electricity, that heat is generated, and if the current be powerful the conductor becomes red or white hot. The small streams of mercury, issuing fromthe jets 0 c and meeting each other, have the character of a finewire. Now,

it will be found on examination that at a distance from the orifices of the jets dependent upon the force with which the streams are made to issue andthe size of the streams, the

dark metallic appearance of the mercury changes to a silvery hue, owing to a partial sep aration of its particles'from each other. At or about these points the greatest resistance to the passage of the electricity occurs,- and it is at such point in each stream, or in one of them, at least, that the streams should meet each other, and at the'point of meeting the light will'be obtained. 4

The other materials, besides mercury, whose use 1 have contemplated for electrodes, are

the filings of iron and other metal, powdered charcoal, and fusible metals, kept liquid by heat but Iconsider mercury preferable to any of these substances.

In addition to what I has described, I pro- I pose to employ means of heating the mercury before conveying it to the jets. I also propose to make and break very rapidly the electricqircuit, by which the elements of the battery are very much ec'onomize'd andthe quality of the light isnot sensibly altered. This may be effected by means of a revolving electro-magnet, which is kept in motion by. the power of the battery employed toobtain the light. I also propose to employ springs or keys'ot'suitable construction, to be worked by the finger or by other means, to break and make the electrio current atsuitable intervals for the purpose of instantaneously extinguishing and reproducing the light forgiving signals or telegraphing by means of flashes of greater or less duration. And Ifurther propose, by means of clock-work or other mechanical agency, to produce the repetition of the flashes at suitable and regular intervals, to adapt my invention for light-house purposes.

What I claim as my invention, and desireto secure by Letters Patent,is The employment i nobtainiu g light by electricity, of two flowing electrodes, substan tially as herein specified; 1 v

J. THOMAS WAY.

\Vitnesses;

L. O. W.BENnR1 3. A. POHLERS. 

